Intellectual, collaborative schools with strong humanities programs?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi. I’m a junior and I’m starting to look into different colleges and tweak my list. I would appreciate any help, recommendations, or advice.

My stats:
GPA: 3.99 uw/4.64 w
Class rank: School doesn’t officially rank, but my counselor told me I’m in the top 1%.
ACT: 35 Composite, 34 Writing (first sitting)
PSAT: 1490/1520, SI 224 (CA) - Invited to apply for Natl. Hispanic Recognition Pgm., fingers crossed for National Merit. If I become a NMSF, I’ll be taking the SAT in fall.
ECs: I’d say they’re very good, given my physical and time limitations. Nothing extraordinary, but very good. I can list them if you’d like.
Hooks: URM - Latina (Puerto Rican)
It’s not a hook, but overall, I’ve made it through a lot of challenges; the main one is that I became physically disabled at the end of ninth grade. I’ve had a tough couple of years, and I honestly think I’ve come out of those struggles a better and more interesting person. I hope colleges will be able to see that.

Here’s what I look for a school, from most to least important:

Location: due to said physical disability and my issues with mobility, I can’t go some place that’s too cold or snowy. The West Coast, South, and Mid-Atlantic would probably be best;I can’t see myself going anywhere in New England or the Midwest. Hilly or generally inaccessible campuses are also out.
Size: LAC or medium sized research university. I think I would thrive at a LAC, but I’m worried about there not being enough courses in the field(s) I want to study.
Strong academics, especially in the humanities. I plan to study Art History and/or Comparative Literature.
Passionate, intellectual/cerebral students. Like, the kind who argue about Plato over dinner.
Collaborative rather than competitive environment
Affordability. I qualify for some financial aid, but merit aid would be really nice. Ideally, my family is willing to pay 40k or less, but we can stretch that a little for a fantastic fit.
Disabled student services (accessible housing, extended time on tests, etc. I don’t use a wheelchair, but can’t walk distances.)
Great teachers/mentors
Significant coursework on the masterworks of Western Civilization
Resources for helping students get into top PhD programs
Research opportunities for undergraduates in the humanities
Liberal, diverse student body
A Mock Trial team (I might join Model UN or Debate if they didn’t have one)
Not overly pre-professional
Not too much of a party school
Not too preppy; not too much Greek
Not too much “rah, rah” type of school spirit

Here are some schools I’ve been thinking about (an asterisk indicates that they give some merit aid). Am I on track? Can you suggest some schools that are less reachy for merit or less reachy in general?

Bryn Mawr*
Columbia
Davidson* (too sporty?)
Emory* (too preprofessional?)
Georgetown (legacy)
Princeton
Pomona
Reed
Rice* (too STEM oriented?)
Scripps*
Stanford
Swarthmore
Tulane* (too much of a party school?)
UCB, UCLA, UCSB College of Creative Studies, UCI, UCD
USC* (too sporty?)
UVA* (too preprofessional?)
Vanderbilt* (too Greek?)
Whitman* (too rural? too Greek?)

If they weren’t in such cold locations, I think I’d be into Chicago (and I’m a legacy, to boot! Why can’t UChicago be anywhere but Chicago?), Yale (I love their Directed Studies program and the residential college system), Grinnell, Carleton, and Williams (maybe not the right vibe, but their art history is top notch and I love idea of tutorials.) Are there any other schools like these that might work better for me, weather-wise?

Thank you!

2

Do the net price calculators at the schools on your list indicate affordability?

Note that the UCs at list price are under $40k per year if you are a California resident.

For merit seeking, here are some lists:

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/

Note that several of the schools you list do not have significant (or any) merit scholarships.

3

UCs are affordable, since I’m in-state. The “super-aid” schools like Stanford and Princeton would be doable but tough. Davidson would be stretching it, and I would be full pay at most of the others. Either way, I will try to negotiate financial aid at schools where I’ll be full pay since we have a lot of medical expenses. I’ll try to cast a wide net and see what offers I get, but the more merit aid, the better.

4

Reading your interests, I was thinking Bryn Mawr all the way, as it has excellent Art History and humanities generally, with a strong collaborative community – glad to see it is on your list! With appropriate demonstration of interest, BMC could be a nice match/safety school. I don’t know whether Skidmore or Connecticut College would work for you in terms of weather, though realistically, Saratoga Springs, New London and suburban Philly will not have demonstrably different weather over the course of the year. People argue about this, but Swarthmore is generally described as having more of an intense culture and less of a collaborative one. A number of the southern LACs have stronger greek life community, such as Washington & Lee, Sewanee, Rhodes and Centre, though at Rhodes and Centre it is reported to be easier to side-step.

Having been through this twice, as a parent, I would recommend starting to build your list with safeties, then identify your matches and then, last, the reaches. Schools with below 20-25% are a reach for everyone, because while most applicants will be qualified, no one can really predict which will be admitted. So other than Bryn Mawr, your list is mostly reaches at this point. Those are easy, and fun, to speculate about. The more important task is identifying admission safeties, which you can afford and which you would be happy to attend. Put your energy there.

Columbia and Princeton have the top Art History departments in the country. As an urban campus, Columbia is compact campus, so that might help. Princeton is flat, though much more spread out. Neither gives merit aid, as an Ivy, so depending on what the net price calculators show, that could be an issue. Williams is known for having a top program as well, but it is remote, spread out campus, and no merit aid.

5

If you like Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr you could look into Haverford as well. It has a reputation for having a very collaborative environment! Still on the reachy side though.

In SoCal there’s also Occidental and Pitzer. I believe Occidental has merit aid and Pitzer does not, not sure though.

Is Ohio too cold? If not, look into Kenyon and Oberlin. I’ve heard good things about Art History at both.

For warm weather and lots of merit aid, look into Hendrix, Rhodes, and New College of Florida.

6

@Midwestmomofboys Yeah, I think Bryn Mawr would be a really good fit for me, and have been impressed with almost everything I’ve heard about it. I hadn’t realized my list was filled with so many reaches, so thanks for letting me know early on. I would have assumed that Tulane, Bryn Mawr, Scripps, the UCs, USC, Reed, Whitman etc would have been low to high matches. Am I overestimating myself/underestimating the selectivity? Georgetown, interestingly, accepts 36% of legacies, but that may be in part because the pool of legacies might be stronger than applicant pool as a whole. Does that make it more of a match, or is it still a reach?

@lalalemma I considered Haverford, but eventually took it off my list, since it doesn’t have merit or an art history program (so I’d be majoring at Bryn Mawr anyway). I hadn’t seriously considered Occidental, Rhodes, or the New College of Florida. I’ll look into them. I had briefly considered Rhodes, but dropped it off the list when I noticed that 65% of women are in sororities. I think Ohio is too cold, and Kenyon and Oberlin might be a little too rural for my taste anyway.

7

I think you could add Yale to your list – it is known for having excellent Humanities programs.

8

New College of Florida.
Warm weather. No hills, apparently.
Solid academics. Quirky intellectual atmosphere.
Campus is adjacent to the Ringling Museum of Art.
Total COA is a little over $40K/y for out-of-state students before aid (if any).

https://www.ncf.edu/academics/undergraduate-program/division-of-humanities/art-history/
https://www.ringling.org/
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/01/28/news_pf/Floridian/A_vision_rebuilt.shtml

Of the more selective colleges, I would think Pomona is among the closest to ideal for the OP’s needs.
Or Scripps (which is relatively generous with merit aid).
The Claremont consortium makes more courses available than most individual LACs do.
Claremont CA offers better weather than you’d get at the other LAC consortium locations (western MA, Philadelphia).
Pomona and Scripps also enroll relatively high percentages of Hispanic/Latino students, compared to some other selective LACs.

Stanford offers warm weather and a wonderful art museum. In case its sprawling campus is a concern for someone with mobility issues, check out Stanford’s accessibility services. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/october/office-accessible-education-101110.html

9

I’ve been looking at the New College of Florida, and I’m really impressed with their offerings and the fact that they’re so close to the Ringling. I’d get an automatic scholarship of $17,500 as a NHRP or NMF (if I become one.) All told, including travel it’d be about the cost of a UC, which is a nice alternative if I decide the UCs are too big.

@tk21769 I visited Pomona/Scripps, and liked them both very much, especially the former (but the latter gives merit and I could see myself there too). Stanford is also very high on my list (especially with their SLE program), but it’s such a reach for anyone. I’m trying not to get too attached :-).

Do you guys know anything about the University of Richmond? It’s probably a good fit for me academically and they give 45 full tuition/full ride scholarships, but I was worried it would be too preprofessional – I saw in their CDS that 40% of students are business majors. Is the preprofessional vibe overwhelming?

10

I would not discount the University of Miami from consideration. The school often gives great merit aid, it’s extremely flat with warm weather, has a great art history program for undergrads, and has access to Miami which has an incredible art scene.

Lewis & Clark College is another possibility. It meets most of your requirements besides the diverse student body.

One other DC possibility is American University. The school is an academic safety for you and will almost certainly give you some merit aid. Though it lacks an on campus museum, DC has great public transportation and a number of art galleries/ museums.

Emory is very hilly. If you haven’t already used [My Topo](MyTopo Map Store: Waterproof Maps Shipped in 24 Hours), an online topographic map generator, I would strongly recommend you do so. You could also use Google Earth’s 3D view to get an idea of the campus layout.

UCLA is even hillier than Emory. I’ve been to all of the UCs and the only ones which are flat are UC Davis (extremely spread out campus), UC Merced (not recommended for someone like you), UCSB, and UC Riverside. UC Irvine is moderately hilly, particularly around an area of campus known as Aldrich Park. UCLA and Berkeley have hills which are challenging even for people without physical disabilities. UC San Diego is flatter, but there are still some climbs, particularly in the area around the oceanography department.

One thing to keep in mind as you search for colleges is where upperclassmen live. There are a number of institutions where it is common to live over a mile off campus, simply due to the cost of living/ lack of guaranteed housing. At a place like Bryn Mawr this will not be an issue, but it is at UC Irvine.

11

Williams will give you an amazing art history department as well as the vibe you seek: intellectual conversation over dinner or in the dorm common room is typical, as is a collaborative environment. But yes, it is in New England and there is school spirit (but I never went to a sports game in my entire 4 years there, so you will find your niche, too). You might ask colleges about how they would support your getting to class on snowy days. I bet that most colleges would try to make themselves accommodating to all admitted students. That said, if you hate the cold, Williams is not for you.

12

Just one tidbit about Davidson which I was surprised to learn when researching for my D16 - it has a team sports requirement. I would guess that they would waive it for students with disabilities but I’m not sure. (As an aside, both DD and I thought that the team sport requirement was completely bizarre and a big turnoff.)

13

American University lists “level of applicant’s interest” as “very important”, so be careful about using it as a “safety”. An “overqualified” applicant needs to show substantial interest besides just applying to signal to that school that it is a top choice, rather than a low choice “safety”.

14

Weather aside, it sounds to me like Williams is a pretty perfect match.

15

to the op – I missed Whitman and USC on your list, sorry to freak you out. I am not familiar specifically with their admissions or programs, but I would imagine you would be safety-ish at Whitman. The difficulty with looking for safeties among LACs is that they do look for students who will be good fits for the specific community, so strong stats alone, without some kind of demonstrated interest – can lead to disappointing admissions results.

16

I know I would probably really enjoy Williams, and it’s a perfect fit for me, academically speaking. It is, however, on the more expensive end, and I’m not sure if I can make the weather thing work. I don’t have much of an opinion on the cold either way, given that I’ve never experienced an actual winter to know whether or not I dislike it (SoCal problems :slight_smile: ). Trudging through snow with my mobility issues doesn’t sound fun. Incidentally, I don’t know yet how I’ll be getting around medium/large campuses, even in warm places. Like I said, I can walk, but not long distances. I’ve considered using a wheelchair or mobility cart part time and walking the rest. I know some colleges have golf cart services for disabled and injured students. But harsh winters would complicate all of this, obviously. How do disabled people on the East Coast get around?

I think I’ll switch out Whitman for the New College of Florida. I know Whitman is higher ranked, but NCF would be much cheaper, as Whitman only gives up to $15k in merit for full pay students, and I’d like Sarasota much more than Walla Walla. I’ll look into all of the other suggestions.

@whenhen Thank you so, so much for telling me about MyTopo! It is a lifesaver.

17

If you’re applying to Columbia, why not also apply to Barnard? Strong liberal arts school w/ a strong community feeling

18

I considered Barnard for a while, but a huge part of what draws me to Columbia is the core curriculum, which I wouldn’t get at Barnard. According to the NPCs, I would be full pay at Barnard but Columbia would give me a little aid, although it would still be on the expensive end of things.

19

I think you had a solid list to begin with, but I agree that you needed a couple of safeties/matches. New College of Florida might be a good fit. I’d throw Occidental on your list (but check the hilliness factor), and the University of Richmond; both offer generous merit, and U of R has lots of support for their scholars (as most schools with named scholarships do).

I would suggest contacting a few of the schools’ Disabled Student Services to inquire about logistics (e.g., are there shuttles running all the time? Can you get rides as needed on campus vehicles such as golf carts, etc.?) In many cases, the central parts of campus tend to be flat, but it may be a long hike to the dorms.

I wouldn’t worry too much about schools’ stereotypes, especially when you are discussing larger schools; there will be always be no shortage of students that, like you, aren’t into Greek or sports or partying. Also, schools’ cultures change over time.

Schools that have dedicated honors dorms and/or scholars programs with living/learning environments or residential colleges will also provide an environment that you will feel comfortable in, even if the larger school culture is more “rah rah” or more pre-professional in its focus or more of a party school than you’d otherwise be seeking. Oftentimes, scholars programs create a “school within a school” environment, even at public universities or larger research universities (plus they may provide greater access to internships, research opportunities, etc.)

20

Hi everyone. I think I’ll keep updating this thread, so I can keep getting feedback on my list.

Firstly, I decided to eliminate a few schools – Vanderbilt, Whitman, and Pomona. While I loved Pomona when I visited and think it would be a great fit, I just can’t justify being full pay at a school when I could potentially get merit aid at Scripps next door.

I’m replacing Whitman with the New College of Florida, which is a safety I think I’d really like. It’ll be easily affordable if I get their NHRP scholarship. I’m probably a little less hipster/granola than the average person at NCF but I’m sure I’d find my niche. Academically, the curriculum seems great for my prospective majors.

Secondly, I’m thinking of cutting out either Reed or Swarthmore, and wanted advice on which to cut. I love the intellectually curious climate of each school, but, again, I just can’t justify applying to so many schools where I’d be full pay. Reed beats Swat on weather, Swat beats Reed on retention rates and four year grad rates. I love the Hum 101, 210, 220 track at Reed and the Interpretative Theory minor and Honors Program at Swat. Reed’s art history offerings seem sparse, though. Both would prepare me very well for graduate school. Swat is a reach for everyone, whereas (I think?) Reed is more of a match, so in the interest of creating a balanced list, I’m leaning towards Reed. Not sure though. Any thoughts?

I recently visited Columbia, and I realize that I don’t really want to live in NYC for four years. Access to a city like NYC with lots of theatre and museums would be great, but I don’t think living there would suit me. It’s too busy and loud, and wayyyy too expensive. I’m thinking of replacing Columbia with Yale, Williams, or Duke.

Here’s my list. It’s still a little reach heavy. What might be some appropriate matches?

Bryn Mawr*
Duke* OR Yale OR Williams
Davidson*
Emory*
Georgetown (legacy)
New College of Florida
Princeton
Reed OR Swarthmore
Rice*
Scripps*
Stanford
Tulane*
UCB, UCLA, UCSB College of Creative Studies, UCI, UCD
University of Richmond*
University of Southern California*
University of Virginia*